Elvis TCB Band with John Rowles
Opera House, Wellington
Sunday, November 9
The billing was for Elvis Presley’s TCB Band (the TCB stands for Taking Care of Business) with John Rowles, however we got a pretty standard John Rowles concert. Rowles simply singing a few more Elvis Presley songs than he normally would. There’s nothing wrong with the best of Rowles’ material – If I Only Had Time is resplendent, it grows finer with age, but there was something not quite right about hearing a Telethon-styled singalong of Cheryl Moana Marie with musicians that had backed not only Elvis but Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Roy Orbison and so many of music’s greats.
Rowles really took over the show, making the banter all about him and his life and paying lip service only occasionally to James Burton (guitar), Ronnie Tutt (drums) and Glen D. Hardin (piano). The rest of the band was a pick-up crew of locals, competent, though the bass player wasn’t the one advertised on the poster – so just three of the TCB band not four as promised.
And Rowles’ act is sounding a bit tired now, the singer’s voice still with that timbre and tone but losing power, and he was breathless during some awkward between song introductions.
To have Tutt and Burton left, almost scratching their heads, looking at their shoes, while Rowles prattled on about his sons and made silly jokes about Kim Dotcom and his time on Dancing With The Stars – well it wasn’t the respect these great musicians deserved. It wasn’t how the concert was billed either.
Taking the small moments to shine, Tutt remains a dynamic drummer and Burton’s tasty country licks authenticated the sound of the Elvis Presley hits.
Turnout was poor and the concert seemed to limp along into its second set.
But Rowles still has his fans that were happy to hear his songs about his sisters and his stories about growing up in Kawerau.
This review appeared in The Dominion Post – I’ve reposted it here on Off The Tracks due to requests from people wanting to view it online
I toyed with going just to clap eyes on the great James Burton. He and Hardin were interviewed on TV3 last night and when asked about Rowles they were…. polite.
I swear I saw Burton roll his eyes during the show – when he wasn’t looking at his own shoes that is.
While there was a lot more Rowles and a lot less TCB Band, I can’t help but think it pretty much went to the plan that all participants must have agreed to beforehand. Burton’s solos were short but I didn’t get the impression he wanted any more room to move. I suspect they were pretty happy to just support Rowles. All three TCB members are essentially musicians who have made a career out of supporting other artists rather than being the star focus themselves. I personally would have loved to hear the band really stretch out, but since it was not to be I was happy to take what I could get (plus I only paid $50 using Grab One which was a fairer price for the performance). I thought the band and Rowles came together best on Elvis’ late 1960s numbers You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, In The Ghetto, and Suspicious Minds. I’ve written a more complete review at http://www.wairarapareviews.kiwi.nz
“more complete review” 🙂
PS I meant more complete review than my own comments – wasn’t dissing yours. I know space is limited in the DomPost
but if the voice is going you cant blame him for reorting to bullshit and talking his way through. what option does a geezer like him have, probably not gonna employ three female backing singers to flesh it out while hitting the RSA’s up and down NZ